Multicycle vehicle.



No. 647,787. Patented A rl l7, I900.

.1. c. ANDERSON. lflULTlGYCLE VEHICLE.

(Application filed Aug. 16, 1899.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

WITNESSES /NVENTOH (W ZMAfium/MM B) ATTORNEY 1w: mmms PETERS co,maorouma, WASHNGTUN, n. c

' -NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. ANDERSON, OF HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS MULTICYCLE VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 647,787, dated April17, 19cc.

Application filed August 16, 1899. Serial N0- 727,386. (No model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, JAMES C. ANDERsoN,a citizen of the United States,residing at Highland Park, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MnlticycleVehicles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in cycleconstruction, and has for its object the production of a machine adaptedto be propelled by the human motive force of one or more riders throughthe medium of driving-wheels and having also provision for carrying twoor more passengers without physical exertion on their part. In otherwords, my invention is designed to evolve in cycle construction aprogress analogous to the evolution made in ordinary carriages and outof which has grown the automobile or horseless carriage, in which apassenger is carried without the use of a draft-animal. In my suggestedbicycle evolution it is designed to carry passengers upon a cyclewithout physical exertion of the passenger by utilizing the motive forceof a working rider. In all cycles with which I am familiar and which areadapted to carry two or more persons each and every person carried bysuch a Wheel is required to lend physical exertion toward the propulsionof the machine.

My invention has fora further object to provide for the maintenance ofthe equilibrium of the machine while the passengers mount or alight andat the same time to avoid any undue tractive friction.

My improved machineis especially adapted for dispensing hospitality andsociability in cycle-riding and is peculiarly fitted for use andenjoyment by invalids. It is also Well adapted for and maybe employed inthe same service and to the same extent as the ordinary public cab orcarriage, and with these ends in view myinvention consists in theconstruction and arrangement hereinafter and more fully set forth.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertainsmay know how to make and use my improved cycle and fully appreciate allof its advantages; I will proceed to describe the same, referring bylet'- ters and figures to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a side elevation of my improved vehicle, and Fig. 2 is a top or planView of the same.

Similar letters and figures of reference denote like parts in bothfigures of the drawings.

In the preferred form of construction the combined vehicle is composedof three frames, (designated generically by the letters 'A B 0-,respectively, from front to rear.)

The frame A is of substantially A form and consists of a rear verticaltube 1 and upper horizontal tube 2, a front slightly-oblique fork 3, anda lower horizontal fork 4.

The front driving-wheel D is mounted in ball-bearings between the lowerends and junctures of the forks 3 and 4 in the usual manner, and allfittings are likewise made in the ordinary manner.

The upper frame-tube 2 is extended forwardly and fitted with a verticalT-joint 5 to receive the saddle-post 6, which is held in any adjustedposition by a clamping-lever 7. The saddle 8 is mounted adj ustably uponthe sad die-post 6 in any preferred manner.

The rear vertical tube 1 is open at both ends to receive a pintle-rodand ball-bearings, such as described and illustrated in a pendingapplication for tandem bicycle filed by me on the 9th day of August,1899, Serial No. 726,693.

The second or passenger frame B is composed of a front vertical tube 9,a rear vertical tube 10, upper horizontal tube -11, and two lowerfork-frames 12, the ends of which are connected by tubes 13 to the frontand rear vertical tubes 9 and 10. (See Fig. 2.) The front vertical tube9 is provided with radial lugs 14, adapted to embrace the ends of therear vertical tube 1 of the frame A and to be pivotally connectedthereto by a pintle-rod and ball-bearings, as explained in pendingapplication hereinbefore referred to.

What I term idler-wheels E are mounted in ball-bearings within thefork-frames 12 of the frame B and constitute the independent pivotalsupports for said frames. The upper 55 v .This frame C is mounted upon adrivingwheel Gin'the same manner-that the forward frame Avis mountedupon its driving-wheel-D.

horizontal tube 11 is raised upwardly from each end a distancesufiicientto clear the passenger-seat presently referred to,

1 The rear vertical tube 10 has adj ustabl-y secured in theupperend'thereof-a handle-bar 15, which is clamped in position by an ordinaryhand-lever 16. a

Mounted upon and connected with the inside tubes ,of the two lowerfork-frames 12 are the passenger-seat frames, composed of very lighttubing (owing to the fact they support the weightin a verticaldirection) and consisting of a horizontal'tube 17 and front and rearleg-tubes 1-8, the front one inFig. lbeing concealed by a mud-guard,presently re'-,

ferred to. The seat-frames at the angles or juncture between the tubes,17 and 18 are.- vbraced and-held in parallelism bycross-tubes, .(notshown,) and, if deemed desirable, other bracing-tubes may be employed atanysuitable plane below the seat, though the construction described isdeemed of sufiicient strength. r

F is a seat composed of any suitablematerial of lightweight and secured'in any preferred way to the tops of the seat-framesjust described. 19are wheel-guards of suitablylight material connected with the frontvertical tube of the seat-frame and at their base to alight footboard20. (See Fig. 2.) This footboard is supported at'the front upon theforward cross-tubes 13 of the frame Band at each end upon the insidetubes of the horizontal fork-frames 12 and isatta'ched permanently-orremovably to the respective tubes in any preferred manner. Thefootboardis cutout on the front edge in the arc of a cir cle, as shownatFig. 2, to permit arti'culative .movementpofthe front frame A'. Adash- ,board:21,'also of light material, curved cor- V respondingly withthe front of the footboard 20, is connected c'entrally'in any suitablemanner to-the front vertical tube 9'and'rests ment -in'multicycles.

upon the footboard 20.'

' The rear frame-Cis'composed of a front Vertical tube '22, a .rearoblique fork-23, anupper horizontal tube 24,:and a lower horizontalfork25. The design of the frame is the reverse of the frame'A, so thatwhen the three frames are connected, as shown at Fig;

.1 the machine as a .whole will 'havea pleasling design. 'The'upper tube24 is extended rearwardly and is provided with a vertical T-joint 26,supporting a-saddle-post and saddle in the same manner as shown in frameA.

"The frames B and O are articulatively connected through the medium ofdouble-acting jointsconstru-cted and operating in an obvi.-

, ous manner to;g1ve vertical andlateralarticulation, asdescribed inanother pending application filed by meon the'9thdaylof Au- ,gust, 1899,Serial No. 726,692, fori-mprove The front frame .A :is

provided with a pivotal handlebar 27 mount ed in ball-bearings andconnected through I the mediumof a segmental gear with a similar gearextending from the upper lug 1-1 of the tube 9 of the frame B in themanner desc'ribedand shown in thependin g application first referred to.

The driving mechanismem'ployed in connection Withthe driving-wheels Dand G,

mounted in frames A and 0, consists of extension-pedals 28, as shown ina pending application filed by me December 16, 1897, Serial 190,662,233,forimprovement in crank and pedal mechanism, cranks 29, and crank-gears30, as shown and described in an application filed by me on the39th dayof August, 1899,

Serial No. 726,694, for improvementrin bicycles for use in the militaryservice, and the riders mounted upon the saddles occupy such relation tothe driving mechanism as to be able toapply their physical force tothe'best advantage, as shownand described'in the before-recited pendingapplication on tandem bicycles.

From the construction shown-and described it will be seen that. theframeQmay be removed by removing or disconn'ectingthe articul'ativeconnections '27, thus leaving the frames -A=and B to'constitute atricycle having central articulation and capable of carrying twopassenger riderszand one working orzpropelling rider'sinstead of two ofthe latter when the machineis in the form shown atFigs. 1 and 2. Ifdesired and after removal of the frame 0, one'or'more frames similar to'the frame B'may beconnected together and the frame 0 thensecuredarticulativelyto the last frame B,-and thus-the'capacityrmay beincreased to any extent proportioned to the physical-ability oftheriders mounted over the driving-wheels, and 'it will also be observedthat the front frame A maybe removed, leaving the frames B and O in theform of a tricycle, with the-working or propelling rider in the rear,and able, through the handle-bar 15 and articulative joints 27, toproperly steer the machine.

In the form shown in the drawings it will i be seen that'the rideron'frame A articulates the frames A and B on the pivotal connectionbetween said frames and that-by reason of the rigid handle-bar 15,connected to the rear of frame B, and its articulative connection withframe!) the rider mounted on said frame 0 articulates the frames Band 0upon their pivotal connection. Hence allof the wheels becomesteering-wheels,and the machine may beturned promptlyon shortradii.

In a machine such as shown and having a capacity for carrying fourpersons only two pedaling and driving *mechanisms are required, while inthe ordin'arymachine adapted to carry a similar humberof'persons fourpedaling and driving-mechanisms would'be necessary; This advantageinithe case of my improved machine is due .to two circumstancesin'constructionu First, the passenger riders are mounted over what Ihave termed idler-wheels,to which no driving mechanism is secured,and,second, the working riders on frames A and 0, being mounted directlyover the driving-wheel and the latter being provided with the peculiardriving-gears, cranks, and extension-pedals, as fully described in thetwo pending applications referred to, are enabled to exert fully twicethe power that can be exerted by a rider mounted upon a wheel as atpresent constructed, both as to relation between the rider and the axisof the driving-wheel and likewise the character of the ordinarycrank-and-pedal mechanism. It will be further observed that the fourwheels are so disposed that the machine will be sustained in equilibriumwhen it is in a state of rest, and hence the occupants can turningcorners may have differential speeds with obvious benefits and that thedrivingwheels and idler-wheels are so disposed relatively to each otherthat the idler-wheels constitute supports in planes outside of andparallel with the supporting-planes of the drivingwheels, or, in otherwords, lines drawn between the four points of contact of the wheelsshown in the drawings would constitute a diagram of diamond form, andthat the passenger-seat becomes practically a pivotal center of themachine.

The many uses to which my improved machine may be applied will bereadily appreciated. For instance, any two riders mounted upon theframes A and C'may invite friends to occupy seats on frame B and take aride without any physical exertion. The machine either in dual ormultiple form maybe employed as a public conveyance in the same mannerand for the same purposes as the ordinary cab or carriage as at presentused with draft-animals.

It will be understood that I contemplate the use of mud-guards wheneverthey may be desirable or necessary.

Having described the construction and arrangement of my improved vehicleand its many advantages, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. A cycle composed of one or more frames provided with a saddle andmounted upon a single wheel having propelling mechanism, and one or moreframes, each mounted upon two wheels located in substantially the sameaxial line, each side of the center, articulative joints between saidframes, and steering mechanism for controlling the articulations,substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. A cycle composed of one or more frames, each mounted upon a singledriving-wheel V with means for driving said wheel, and one or moreframes provided with seats and pivotally and centrally mounted upon twocarrying wheels; and steering mechanism for controlling thearticulations of the several frames, substantially as hereinbefore setforth.

3. In combination with the rectangular frame B mounted centrally upontwo carrying-wheels and provided with a seat F over the axes of thewheels and with a rigid handlebar 15, in rear of the seat, a frame 0mounted vibratively at its lower rear end upon the driving-wheel andprovidedwith a saddle over the axis of the driving-wheel, a singledriving-wheel G provided with propelling mechanism and articulativejoints 27, connected vibratively at each end to the frames B and C,respectively whereby the rider upon the rear frame is enabled to steerthe forward frame, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In combination with the framesA and B, articulatively connected andmounted upon the drivingwheel D and carrying-wheels E, respectively andprovided with handlebars 8 and 15, the frame 0 mounted vibratively atits rear end upon a driving-wheel G and provided with suitable drivingmechanism, and articulative connections between the frames B and O,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

' 5. In combination with the frame B composed of the rear vertical tube10, upper horizontal tube 11, front vertical tube 9,

lower double fork-tube 12, and cross-tubes 13, all rigidly connectedtogether and mounted centrally upon driving-wheels E, the secondaryseat-frame composed of the tubes 17 and 18, joined together and mountedupon and secured to the inside members of the forktubes 12 of the frameB and a seat F, mounted upon the secondary seat-frame, substantially asshown and described.

6. In combination with the frame B, consisting of the rear vertical tube10, upper horizontal tube 11, front vertical tube 9, lower doublefork-tube 12, and cross-tubes 13, all rigidly secured together andmounted centrally upon two carryingwheels E, and the secondary frameconsisting of tubes 17 and 18, connected together and rigidly mountedupon the fork-tubes 12, and provided with a seat F, a footboard 20,mounted upon the forward end of the fork-tubes 12, and the forwardcross-tube 13 of the frame B, substantially as shown and described.

7. In combination with the frame B, c011- sisting of the rear verticaltube 10, upper horizontal tube 11, front vertical tube 9, lower doublefork-tube 12, and cross-tubes 13, all rigidly connected together andmounted centrally upon carrying-wheels E, and the secondary seat-frameconsisting of tubes 17 and 18, rigidly connected together and to theinside member of the fork-tube 12, of the frame B, and provided with aseat F, a foot- 'footboard 20,

board 20, secured to the ends of the fork-tubes 12, of the frame B, anda dash 21, secured-to the front tube 9, and supported upon thesubstantially as shown and described. 1

8. ln'eombination with a cab-frame mount ed centrally upon a'singlecarrying-wheel and a seat-frame and seat mounted upon said cab-frame,and a leading or front frame mountedupon a driving and. steeringwheelprovided. with driving and steering mecham. ism, and articulativelyconneeted' with the cab-frame close 'to the peripheries of the carryingancl'the steering wheels, a footboarcl 20, and a curved dash 21, mountedupon "the cab -frame and extending forwardly at each terminal, wherebythe steering Wheel may rotate upon'its vsteering-pivot, and thepassenger on the cab-seat may be protected substantially ash'ereinbefore described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses;t 1 p JAMES C. ANDERSON;

Witnesses: i 1

JENNIE G. BOOTH, I WALLACE MURDooK.

